Figeroa asks police to find alleged attacker

January 29, 2010 4:28:21 PM PST

January 29, 2010 (JOLIET, Ill.) --

A political candidate who says he was attacked by a man who was defacing campaign signs in his yard says he wants to press charges.Raymond Figueroa, a Democrat running for Cook County assessor, is asking Chicago police to find his attacker.

Figueroa spent two and one-half days in the hospital after his hand was severely cut. He says he was returning home when he saw the man destroying campaign signs outside his house. He says the man punched him.

Figueroa believes he caught his hand on the corner of the sign when he tried to fight back.

"This kind of political situation where people resort to violence cannot be tolerated, and I hope people who are out there do not resort to this kind of political tactics," he said.

Figueroa is running against Democratic committeeman Joe Berrios and Dolton official Robert Shaw.

The Berrios campaign said it knows nothing about what happened. Shaw called the incident "terribly unfortunate."